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<address class="entry-title"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
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<h2 class="entry-title"><a
href="https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/the-right-to-useful-unemployment/"
rel="bookmark">The Right To Useful Unemployment</a></h2>
<div class="entry-meta"> <span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted
on</span> <a
href="https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/the-right-to-useful-unemployment/"
title="7:27 pm" rel="bookmark"><span class="entry-date">June 28,
2014</span></a> <span class="by-author"><span class="sep">by</span>
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<p>In The Right to Useful Unemployment, Ivan Illich suggests that we
need to break the association of the definition of work with that
of the coupling of labor force and capital. For him, we must
replace the status of the social relationship that commands
production with the beneficial outcomes of effort; the achievement
of satisfaction which flows from action.</p>
<p>He suggests 3 principle ideas: that in commodity based societies
the sheer abundance of commodities paralyzes the autonomous
determination of use-value, that professions play a hidden role in
society by shaping its needs, and that we must illuminate the
illusions and break the professional power that perpetuates market
dependance. Essentially, the power of professions to measure what
is good, right, and done warps the desire, willingness, and
ability of the “common person” to live within their means.</p>
<p>Unemployment means idleness, rather than the freedom to do things
which are useful for oneself or ones neighbor. An active person
who maintains a household and raises children while taking in
those of others is distinguished from one who “works” no matter
how damaging or useless the product of that work may be.
Housework, handicrafts, subsistence agriculture, radical
technology, learning exchanges, and the like are degraded as
fringe activities for the idle, the unproductive, the very rich,
or very poor.</p>
<p>The quality of a society and it’s culture depends on the status
of it’s unemployed. We must protect the freedom of people to be
useful outside the activities that result in the production of
commodities. This depends on the rational and cynical competence
of the common person when faced with the professional imputation
of needs.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Illich says we need to destroy the symbolic power of
expertise, and that professional establishments protect their
legitimacy in 3 principle ways: Professional self policing,
professional alliances, and the professionalization of clients,
often in the form of “self-help.”</p>
<p>Illich suggests we must shift towards a participative conception
of justice, and resist training for extreme specialization.</p>
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